Following the announcement of three interim members of the South African Tourism Board on Friday (April 21), hospitality association, FEDHASA, has welcomed the appointment of the new interim board members – noting Minister of Tourism, Patricia De Lille’s decision to bolster the board’s expertise with individuals who bring corporate governance, entrepreneurship, finance and tourism experience.

“I can today announce that I have gazetted the appointment of three persons to manage the affairs of SA Tourism Board until the appointment of a new Board,” said De Lille in a statement.

The Minister had announced the dissolution of the Board last week Wednesday (April 19) after eight of the eleven Board Members, including the Chairperson, had resigned.

“The remaining three members of the Board cannot form a quorum and the board is therefore no longer functional. In all the circumstances, I believe that good cause exists to dissolve the Board,” said De Lille at the time.

The Minister said the process would also soon begin to advertise for, and appoint, a new SA Tourism Board in “reasonable time”. 

‘Committed to growing the tourism sector’

“With the board appointments finalised, we look forward to working closely with SA Tourism to leverage its role of promoting tourism to and within South Africa. As the voice of hospitality in the country, we understand the need for and are committed to growing the tourism sector so that we can create the jobs that are so greatly needed in our economy,” said Rosemary Anderson, FEDHASA National Chair.

“The better we market the destination, the more tourism business and all the businesses in its deep supply chain flourish, thus providing livelihood opportunities for the many South Africans who find themselves without jobs.

“SA Tourism’s role in promoting tourism is critical and it is our privilege to work with them to achieve the KPIs that have already been set in this regard.”

Three new appointees

The three new appointees are as follows:  

• Kholeka Zama – a Chartered Accountant who has worked in finance, audit and governance roles and has served as a Chief Financial Officer at several entities, including the Digital Frontiers NPC, British American Tobacco SA (Pty) Ltd and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. She has a B Compt. Hons (CTA) degree from Unisa and a B Com Accounting degree from Wits University. 
• Tim Harris, a tourism and economic promotion specialist, with twenty years’ global experience in destination marketing, economic policy, investment promotion and governance. He was previously the CEO of Wesgro. Harris has a Bachelor of Commerce Masters in Economics, a Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts – Majors: Economics & English Literature from the University of Cape Town. Harris is also an Associate Professor of Practice at Johannesburg Business School and a Senior Adviser to the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance, a leading network of entrepreneurs on the African continent. 
• Vincent Zwelibanzi Mntambo, has a law degree from the University of the North West and a Masters in Law from Yale University and has held various administrative and management positions at FIAT (SA) and later as Faculty Officer at University of the North West.

He also served as the first Director General of the Gauteng Provincial Government. and as the Director of the Independent Mediation Service of South Africa (IMSSA), an NGO that specialised in the resolution of industrial conflict.

“I wish the appointed members well in their work and look forward to working with them and the SA Tourism Executive to stabilise the entity and pursue our objective growing inclusive tourism in South Africa,” said De Lille.